Ridgecrest, North Carolina Q
June 20-21, 1963
The Foreign Mission Board met in Southwide session June 20-21, 1963 at Ridgecrest,
North Carolina, with Dr. Homer G. Lindsay presiding.
Present: State Members: G. W. Riddle, Ala.; Loyd L. Hunnicutt, Ark.; George R. Wilson,
Ariz.; Blake Woolbright, Calif.; Milton Collum, Colo.; B. Frank Foster, D.C. : Homer
G. Lindsay, Fla.; Doyle E. Carlton, Jr., Fla.; O.M. Cates, Ga.; Dick H. Hall, Ga. ; W.
Fred Scott, Ga.; Ralph McClain, Ill.; James W. Abernathy, Ind.; Forrest H. Siler, Kan.;
J. Chester Badgett, Ky.; Harold D. Tallant, Ky. ; J. Norris Palmer, La.; Leslie M.
Bowling, Md.; Leroy E. Green, Miss.; W.D. Wyatt, New Mex. ; Howard J. Ford, N.C.; Mrs.
W. A. Mitchiner, N.C.; R. Knolan Benfield, N.C. ; Herman E. Wooten, OrerWash. ; Thomas
L. Neely, S.C.; O.K. Webb, S.C.; Gerald Martin, Tenn. ; R. Paul Caudill, Tenn. ; Phillip
Brown, Texas; W.H. Crook, Texas; Mrs. J. Woodrow Fuller, Texas; J. Ralph Grant, Texas;
T.A. Patterson, Texas; John Robert Stiff, Va.
Local Members: Wade Bryant, J. Roy Clifford, H. Addison Dalton, Joseph P. Edmondson,
J. Levering Evans, Horace L. Ford, R. Stuart Grizzard, Mrs. Clyde V. Hickerson,
M. Josiah Hoover, Mrs. Charles A. Maddry, J. Walter Martin, Ryland 0. Reamy, Meredith
K. Roberson, D. 0. Rose, James T. Todd.
Staff: Baker J. Cauthen, Rogers M. Smith, Frank K. Means, Winston Crawley, Cornell
Goerner, Franklin T. Fowler, Everett L. Deane, E. L. Wright, Elmer S. West, Edna
Frances Dawkins, Bill Cody, William M. Dyal, E. L. Hill, Joseph B. Underwood, Fon
H. Scofield, Floyd H. North, lone Gray, Inez Tuggle.
Guests : Dr. C. Wade Freeman, Director of the Evangelism Division of the Baptist General
Convention of Texas; Rev. A. S. Savarirayan, General Superintendent of the Christian
Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, South India; Mrs. A. S. Savarirayan, South India.
Thursday, June 20, 1963
The appointment session was held in the main auditorium at Ridgecrest at 7:30 P.M. on
Thursday evening, June 20, with Dr. Lindsay presiding.
Dr. Forrest H. Siler led the devotional period. Mr. Edward W. Nelson, missionary to
Chile, led in the singing.
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report of the Executive Secretary:
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
The meeting of the Foreign Mission Board at Ridgecrest is of real significance. It
enables great numbers of people to experience the joy of sharing in the missionary
appointment service. The testimony of these men and women of God will abide in the
hearts of all of us and will bring forth fruit according to God's leadership. These
meetings also give to the Board the opportunity of feeling the heartbeat of Southern
Baptists as we gather in a large Convention-wide Assembly aware that the Foreign Mission
Board is the channel through which flows out the missionary compassion of more than
32 thousand churches in response to the great Commission of our Lord.
We have met with an awareness that a new day in world evangelization is before us. We
have been conscious for many years of growing possibilities in bringing people to faith
in Christ. Special projects in evangelism and church development over a period of the
last ten years conducted in many parts of the world have indicated the great values
which are to be found in major efforts in bringing people to Christ.
In the last few months, events in Latin America - notedly in Brazil and Mexico, have
brought sharply into focus the great potential for large scale evangelistic efforts.
The Baptists of Brazil, even now, are thoughtfully giving attention and prayer to the
possibility of a nation-wide evangelistic effort in 1965 that will surpass anything they
have yet undertaken in their land.
Most Southern Baptists are now aware of the remarkable experiences of the New Life
Movement in Japan and other countries of the Orient. Those of us who has participated
in that effort bear witness that it was one of the most profound spiritual experiences
we have known. Letters from missionaries indicate that great blessings have been
experienced. National Baptist leaders have been strong in their words of appreciation
and their expressions of confidence that the Movement has blessed every phase of Baptist
work being undertaken.
The large task before us is not only one of reaping a harvest and drawing people into
discipleship, but also of nurturing them in the service of our Lord. Projects in church
development are just as important as projects in direct evangelism. The Baptists of
Hong Kong are now studying possibilities for a large emphasis in 1966 in the field of
religious education. Already there have been projects in stewardship in Latin America
and other parts of the world.
